Hatshepsut, the most successful of several female rulers of ancient Egypt, declared herself king sometime between years 2 and 7 of the reign of her stepson and nephew, Thutmose III. She adopted the full titulary of a pharaoh, including the throne name Maatkare, which is the name most frequently found on her monuments. Her throne name and her personal name, Hatshepsut, are both written in cartouches making them easy to recognize.

This life-size statue shows Hatshepsut in the ceremonial attire of an Egyptian pharaoh, traditionally a man's role. In spite of the masculine dress, the statue has a distinctly feminine air, unlike most representations of Hatshepsut as ruler (see, for example, three granite kneeling statues in the Museum's collection, 29.3.1, 29.3.2, and 30.3.1). Even the kingly titles on the sides of the throne are feminized to read "the Perfect Goddess, Lady of the Two Lands" and "Bodily Daughter of Re," a practice that was dropped later in her reign.

Traces of blue pigment are visible in some of the hieroglyphs on the front of the statue and a small fragment on the back of the head shows that the pleats of the nemes headcloth were originally painted with alternating blue and yellow.

The lower part of the statue was acquired by Karl Richard Lepsius and taken to Berlin in 1845. The head, left forearm, and parts of the throne were excavated by the Museum during the 1926-27 season and acquired in the division of finds. The Berlin fragment was acquired by the Museum in an exchange in 1929.